Monday, August 31, 2015

Holding my sweet baby Rush and thinking about just how much I love being a mommy to my three little angels. As a child, I never played much with baby dolls, and I wasn't that little girl that was the "mothering" type...I always knew I wanted children but never expected to to feel like this about being a mom...like it's what I was put on this earth to do.

I'm overwhelmed by emotions just watching them sleep. I feel so underserving of such amazing little blessings, yet so thankful that God chose me to be their mother.

After the big kids fell asleep tonight, Rush and I played and laughed and cuddled...he gave me more kisses than I could count and he held me face and said, "luv lou." Tears rolled down my face because sometimes I love them so much it hurts.

The saying is oh so true. You never understand how much your mother loves you until you become a mother yourself.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

They've been up in my grill all night long. They were both up watching a motorcycle show at 4 a.m. I'm exhausted. My back and neck hurt. And I've scooted them over too many times to count. But I'm not going to lie, I kind of like that they're still little enough to want to sleep next to me. #poordaddy #theykickedhimout #weplaymusicalbeds

"Mommy, I'm going to heaven because I love Jesus. I love Him a whole lot and I believe in Him. Did you know that there are some kids who don't have books and who don't know who Jesus is? That's really sad, huh? We need to tell them about Jesus."

He gets it. And I don't care if he never gets anything else in this world…because he gets this.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Oh Wewoka Lake….truly our family's favorite place on earth…our escape, our getaway, our relaxation…a place where so many happy memories are made. We've spent a lot of time at the lake this summer. The kids absolutely love it…all three of them. Reid spends his days fishing and exploring, while LilliAnn likes to swim and play with her pink retro kitchen. About a month ago, Reid finally got the hang of wake boarding and man, did he fall in love with it! He wake boarded a little bit last year, but this year he really figured it out. He just can't get enough! He's even doing jumps now and going back and forth over the wake. It's so fun to watch him because he gets really proud of himself and does crazy hand motions and bobs his head when he lands a jump!

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The kids also enjoy spending time with Papa Glenn and Grandma Lucy. Mimi and Papa spoil us rotten when we're at the lake! The kids love running back and forth up the hill from our house to their house - or riding their Power Wheels! Papa spends most of his time entertaining Rush by driving him around in the Kubota/Gator. It's Rush's favorite thing to do right now!

Last weekend, Mimi cooked a big Sunday morning breakfast for us - sausage, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, and grape juice. It reminded me of when I was a kid and used to spend the weekend at Mimi and Papas. Papa made the kids popcorn in his popcorn maker and then made them some nachos in the oven. LilliAnn thought everything was so good, and asked if Papa could come live with us so he could make us popcorn and nachos all the time. It's times like these when having kids is extra special because I'm able to re-live my own childhood. I'm so glad that my children are able to make fun memories with my grandparents.

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I took these pictures last month and wanted to share them in this post.

Josh and Lacee live about five minutes from the lake house, so we get to see them often when we come to the lake!

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LilliAnn and Josslynn remind me so much of Lacee and I when we were kids - except these two may get along just a little better!

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Doing what he does best! Fish!

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Cousins make the BEST friends!

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We added a new swim dock this summer and the kids have really enjoyed it!

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my pretty girl

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No matter how hot it is outside, these kids always end up in the hot tub!

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Aunt Lacee is the queen of laying out! She was putting the new dock to good use!

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The kids love the beach area! The girls play in the sand and swim, while the boys hunt for crawdads!

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He thinks he has to go everywhere that the big kids go!

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These two…they are as close as brothers!

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And no trip to the lake is complete without some tubing fun!

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Little sister is starting to enjoy fishing too!

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Reid will always remember fishing with his daddy. I love that they both enjoy it so much.

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He was amazed at the crawdad! He LOVES any kind of animal or bug…and he's not afraid of anything! He gets so upset if the kids find a bug or a frog and don't let him hold it too! He'll start scramming, "BUG!!"

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He wanted to give it kisses! LOL!

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All boy…and all Rollins!

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We are very blessed to have such a wonderful lake house to enjoy as a family. And I know that we'll be enjoying it for many years to come!

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

It's the night before the first day of school, and I'm sitting here trying to finish up my summer posts. I feel as if my blogging has suffered a little this past year…three kids, building a new house, a busy schedule…my goal is to do better these next few months.

We went to Rosemary Beach, Florida back in June and had the best time! We decided to drive and were a little worried about how the kids would do, but to our surprise, they did amazing! We drove half way and spend the night and then drove the rest of the way the next morning. The kids entertained themselves with movies and iPads, and it was a much more pleasant road trip than Jeb and I had anticipated.

My cousin Jon-Michael married Rachel Cleere at Inlet Beach, and we were so honored to be invited to their beautiful beach wedding. We usually stay in Panama City Beach, but we had heard so many good things about the small beach communities along Highway 30A that we really wanted to stay some where different. Rosemary Beach seemed to be one of the "it" places to stay for families, and since it was right next door to Inlet Beach, we thought we'd give it a try. And let me just say…it exceeded our expectations. It was the most precious little beach community with the neatest neighborhoods. We rented bikes for the week and were able to go back and forth between my Aunt Johnna's beach house where the wedding party was staying and our little carriage house in Rosemary. The kids had an absolute blast!

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This was baby Rush's first time at the beach. We've taken all three kids to the beach for the first time at this age and they've all three been water babies. Rush wiggled his toes in the sand when he first hit the beach and then took off towards the waves. There was no fear at all. That baby was born for the water…just like his daddy.

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As soon as we pulled into Rosemary we had to stop at the beach shop and get Reid a net. That boy was in heaven the entire week with his snorkel and fish net!

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Our little diva would sit in the sand forever letting the waves wash over her.

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We thought that the salt water and big waves might bother him, but he kept wanting to head straight for the tide!

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I got some gorgeous pictures of my baby girl as she soaked up the sun and salty air.

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my favorite.

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Boogie boarding…a 7 year-old's dream!

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Rush has such a pretty olive complexion, which I love because he doesn't burn easily. He got so dark while we were there and looked like a little Coppertone baby!

This guy would move to the ocean. He loves, loves, loves the beach life!

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This is the Anna's Veranda beach house where Aunt Johnna and the wedding party stayed. The wedding reception was held in the backyard and it turned out absolutely stunning! It was only about a five minute bike ride from our place, so we would come hang out at their house often.

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The bike trailer was so handy for the littles! Ever since we used one at Rosemary, I've been trying to talk Jeb into getting us one for home!

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Soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. on their way down to the beach!

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The bike rides may have been one of the most fun things we did on our trip!

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This was our carriage house in Rosemary. Next time we go, we'll definitely book earlier and get a bigger house, but this location was so convenient. The beach was just right behind the house on the left of this picture - just a few feet down the sidewalk - so easy to pull our wagon down to a spot every morning.

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The hotel in Rosemary Beach is called "The Pearl," and it is super chic. We ate at the restaurant, Havana Grill one evening and it was absolutely delicious! We will definitely be dining here again!

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The commons areas between the neighborhoods are so pretty! They overlook the beach and are a great place for the kids to run and play!

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the back of the Pearl hotel

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I loved this little curve in the road…such a gorgeous view at sunset!

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Shrimp boil with the fam at Anna's Veranda

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We spend this entire day at the beach!

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I was a few pounds and a few abs short of the look I was after, but at age 31 and after 3 babies I just let that go...

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nap time on the beach

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My beautiful Aunt Johnna and cousin Mica

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This was sand castle day. The kids played in the sand all day long!

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one of my favorites pics from the vacation

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she's always "up in his grill"

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Mother of the Groom and Mother of the Bride!

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Reid was catching all sorts of ocean critters! He went bay fishing the next day and caught a sting ray! All of those pictures were taken on Jeb's phone, but they had the best time! The boat broke down, which Reid was happy about because they got a few more hours of fishing in!

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You can't help but smile when you're on the beach!

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All dressed up to pick up Uncle Kass at the airport and go to dinner.

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real life…trying to get a decent pic of all three!

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Bonfire on the beach with the wedding party…this was such a fun evening!

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take me back.

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My best friend Kari arrived this day! I was so happy to see her!

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When you're seven and there are waves, you can't help but get wet!

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These pictures makes my heart want to explode!

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I wish I would have hired a professional beach photographer to get some family shots of us, but all things considering, I think these turned out pretty well!

The Rollins

The Rollins family was established on June 2, 2007. Jeb and I have known each other since the first grade and married after dating for six years. We had our first baby, Reid Jackson, on April 25, 2008 and our second, LilliAnn McKenzie, April 6, 2010. We thought our family was complete, but on March 17, 2014, we were blessed with our third bundle of joy, Rushton Jeb! We love the Lord with all our heart and praise him every day for our family's many blessings. We live a crazy, chaotic life but wouldn't have it any other way!